Quick Questions: Have a 'had had'

Which of these sentences is / are correct?

1. If the sentence that had 'had had' had had 'had' it would be correct.
2. If the sentence that had 'had' had had 'had had' it would have been correct.
3. If the sentence that had had 'had' had 'had had' it would have been correct.

Show Answer

Number 2 is correct

If it still doesn't ring the bell, read it this way:
If the sentence that had 'had' had had 'had had', it would have been correct.
It means that the sentence had only 'one had'(instead of two). If it still doesn't make any sentence, let's change the thing the sentence didn't have. Instead of 'had had', we'll use 'one/two had/hads:
If the sentence that had one had had had two hads, it would have been correct. We can also rephrase the whole thing into:
The original sentence we are talking about used 'had' instead of 'had had' and it was incorrect. It would have been correct if it had used 'had had'. :)